Curran's Patriots-Chargers preview/review

Curran's Patriots-Chargers preview/review

WHEN THE PATRIOTS HAVE THE BALL

PREVIEW

Tom Brady’s got an outside shot at a 5,000-yard season, but the Patriots golden road to unlimited success is on the ground. Last week, the Patriots dominated Atlanta with balance – 36 carries, 29 throws. This week, against a Chargers defense that’s been susceptible to both runs and big plays, the Patriots should try to go back to that well. And they should do it because the consequences of not running the ball well will be harsh. For one, it will put the Patriots in second and third-and-long which is – as Bill Belichick said this week – a strip-sack highlight reel for the Chargers defensive ends Joey Bosa and Melvin Ingram. It will also mean the Patriots defense – which has depth issues to contend with – will be back on the field more than the ideal. The Los Angeles defensive tackles – Corey Liuget and Brandon Mebane – also came in for specific praise this week.

REVIEW

After an uneventful first drive, the Patriots cobbled together some plays in their second possession with an array of screens, middle runs and short flips by Brady. On first-and-goal from the 2, the Patriots went with a heavy formation and got an easy toss to Gronk to complete a 14-play, 77-yard drive. Leading 9-7 in the second, the Patriots took over after a free kick and had another solid drive going – including a fourth-and-1 pickup by Mike Gillislee. It was a big drive for Rex Burkhead who got it four times before the Patriots settled for a field goal. The Patriots threw in one more drive before the half but had to settle for a field goal after getting to the Chargers 18. Credit in the first half to tackles Nate Solder and Marcus Cannon (though Cannon was dinged and gave way to L’Adrian Waddle late in the second quarter). They allowed just one sack and three quarterback hits. The Patriots’ biggest issue was their penchant for bogging down in the red zone. They had consecutive drives end at the 6, 18, 25, 25 and 25 and managed just nine points on those drives. They also had their four-minute clock-killer drive stall at the 8. The Pats went 9-for-19 on third down and Brady threw for 333 on 47 attempts as he did a nice job finding what was available before the rush got home. But the lack of finish on offense is a concern. The running game was effective enough if not prolific.

WHEN THE CHARGERS HAVE THE BALL

PREVIEW

This is a big game for the Patriots to start reacclimating themselves to post-Hightower life. When he’s been on the field, the operation runs well. Off? Not as well. Stephon Gilmore practiced plenty this week and figures to be mixed back into the secondary. The Chargers present a diverse set of issues through the air, not as much on the ground. Keenan Allen is one of the league’s better wideouts and a leaned-upon target for Philip Rivers. Hunter Henry is a young, athletic tight end target (21 catches, 14.2 per reception) and Antonio Gates remains effective even as he widens by the moment. Melvin Gordon and Austin Ekeler are the two main backs for the Chargers. With an experienced quarterback and a diverse offense with Ken Whisenhunt as coordinator, if the Patriots can make it through this game without more than a half-dozen busts, it will be a victory.

REVIEW

On their first drive, there was play-action, Wildcat, Jet Sweep, you name it as LA moved down to the Patriots 42 then attempted a field goal on fourth-and-inches from 51 yards, which was partially blocked by Lawrence Guy. On LA’s second drive, Cassius Marsh and Patrick Chung were taken out at the point of attack and Elandon Roberts was cut-blocked to the ground on an 87-yard Melvin Gordon touchdown run. The Patriots were very, very good defensively for a long stretch. But the Patriots' lack of efficiency on offense let Rivers the mad bomber remain just a couple of big plays away. A PI on Bademosi and a coverage but by Butler led to a Travis Benjamin touchdown in the mid-fourth making it 18-13. The Patriots tacked on a field goal late after getting to the Chargers 8 which led to the final play of the game having something riding on it from the Patriots 23 with one second left.

THE KICKING GAME

PREVIEW

Nick Novak’s been in line for frequent praise from Bill Belichick this week, who noted the LA kicker probably would have kicked the Chargers to a better record if he’d been with the team from the start of the season. Their punter, Drew Kaser, has only had two games in which his longest punt was less than 60 yards. He is averaging 51.3 yards per punt. Hits a big ball. Travis Benjamin is one of the league’s better punt returners. For the Patriots, being with a reduced Danny Amendola is a big concern because he’s been potent on punt returns.

REVIEW

Lawrence Guy got a paw on Nick Novak’s 51-yard field goal attempt which ended the Chargers first drive. Ryan Allen’s first punt put the Chargers in business at their 12. In the second quarter, Allen’s punt was fielded by Travis Benjamin at his 8 and he gave up ground until he was pulled down in the end zone for a safety. The Chargers started their final drive of the half from their 12 after Austin Ekelor tried to bring a kickoff back out of the end zone. The Chargers flipped it back when Kaser sent a 47-yard punt spinning down at the Patriots 9-yard line just before half. The Chargers were burned by an offsides on their kickoff team beginning the second half, re-kicked and gave up a 66-yard return. Gostkowski caused them to come away with no points, missing a 43-yard field goal. Gostkowski missed another one early in the fourth as well keeping the Chargers afloat. Amendola had four returns for 26 yards. Allen dropped all three of his punts inside the 20. Gostkowski missed two from 43, hit one from 43 and also hit from 25 and 36.

Marcus Cannon made his way to the medical tent in the second quarter. He injured his ankle and was replaced by Waddle. Chris Hogan took a shot to the right arm/shoulder and wound up on his way to get an MRI with that arm in a sling.

CHARGERS MEDICAL REPORT

GAME WITHIN THE GAME

PREVIEW

Can the Patriots give the short-yardage, lawn sprinkle passing game treatment to the Chargers the same way they did to the Falcons last week and have done to Seattle in the past. The Chargers scheme is the same as the other two as their defensive coordinator – Gus Bradley – springs from the Seattle-Pete Carroll—Monte Kiffin model

REVIEW

Short was the way the Patriots predictably went. Knowing the pass rush would be coming – and it often was – Tom Brady was forced to move in the pocket and find short crossers or throws to the flat. He did that with eight players catching passes but nobody having more than 85 yards receiving.

CHARGERS GOTTA STOP

PREVIEW

Dion Lewis. Or whoever the Patriots are lining up on first and second downs as their primary ballcarrier. LA’s been vulnerable on the ground. The Patriots kicked it up a notch last week against the Falcons. Big week to gain momentum on the ground for New England.

REVIEW

The Patriots running game as a whole was effective if not prolific. Lewis carried 15 times for 44 yards and was the lead ball-carrier. He also had two catches for 10 yards. The Patriots ran 32 times for 97 yards and the backs caught 14 balls for 163 yards.

PATRIOTS GOTTA STOP

PREVIEW

Keenan Allen. Allen’s already been targeted 68 times in seven games. He’s got 36 catches and is averaging 13.5 yards per catch. At 6-foot-2, he’s a tough and physical matchup and is very crafty after the catch as well. The Patriots had a good plan for him in 2014 when they met out there and caught two passes for 3 yards a week after catching 11 for 21. Whether the 2017 Patriots have the same personnel to lock down Allen as the ’14 team did is highly questionable.

REVIEW

Yes, yes they can. Allen had four catches for 61 yards on five targets. The Patriots had a number of different players on the case but Johnson Bademosi logged a lot of time on the right perimeter of the Patriots defense across from Allen and did a sufficient job. That he wasn’t targeted as often as usual is, in part, because of the attention paid.

THAT SUMS IT UP PATRIOTS STYLE

PREVIEW

“Defensively, we already talked about [Joey] Bosa, [Melvin] Ingram, but (not as much about Brandon] Mebane, [Corey] Liuget, [Chris] McCain. They've got a lot of other players that are pretty difficult to handle out there, too. Defensively, they do a good job on Coach [Gus] Bradley's scheme. We're familiar with that. I mean, it’s a very sound system that is aggressive and attacks the ball and does a good job of turning the ball over. Just all the way across the board we've learned a lot about these guys this week and hopefully we'll be able to transfer that to our performance on Sunday, but they're playing extremely well and they're well-coached.” – Bill Belichick on the challenge presented by the Los Angeles defense.

REVIEW

The Chargers had something to do with the Patriots 1-for-4 ratio on TDs/Red Zone trips. The pressure applied on Tom Brady was significant (three sacks). But if it weren’t for Brady showing the pocket mobility he did and understanding where and when to get rid of the ball, the Patriots would have lost this game and had an injured quarterback. The number of rushes he wriggled out of with subtle movement was too hard to count. The issue is, in the red zone, there’s not as much wiggle room once time is bought because the field is compressed.

THAT SUMS IT UP CHARGERS STYLE

PREVIEW

“I don’t try to shy away from that. I don’t feel like I’m playing Tom Brady by any means, but it’s still a big deal to me, as a fan of quarterbacks, all those times getting to go against Peyton Manning (and Brady). I’ve still allowed myself to be that fan, in a sense, to have that love for the game. That love for the position; that’s what I grew up with. I didn’t really grow up an NFL fan, I grew up loving quarterbacks. The quarterbacks were the ones I had posters of, the quarterbacks were the ones I picked what numbers I liked.” – Philip Rivers, Chargers quarterback, on matching up with Tom Brady and the Patriots.

REVIEW

Rivers was 17-for-30 for 212. He had a touchdown pass and a pick. He’s always fun to watch and he loves to throw deep so it’s hard to hammer him too bad. That said, the gap between he and Tom Brady is massive.

THE CREW AND THE LINE

PREVIEW

Pete Morelli and his crew have this one. Morelli – the Abe Vigoda lookalike – did the Patriots-Texans playoff game last season and his crew has been dishing out penalties to the visitors in abundance. Only once has a visiting team had fewer than 10 penalties in the four games his crew has done. The Patriots are 7.5-point favorites and the total is 48.5.

REVIEW

An early flag flew on Keenan Allen for a dragdown of Jonathan Bademosi. There were also a pair of flags thrown on LA that wiped out touchdowns and the Chargers committed a passel of special teams penalties. The Chargers finished with 10 penalties for 77 yards and the Patriots had six for 40.